Friction-brake.



PATENTED JUNE 16, 1903. A. B. REYNOLDS. FRIGTION BRAKE'.

APPLIOATIOH FILED JAN. 5, 1903.

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PATENTED JUNE 16, 1903.

A.y E. REYNOLDS.

' 'FRIGTION BRAKE.

APPLwATIoN FILED JAN. 5. 1903.A

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

PATENTED JUNE 16, 1903. A. E. REYNOLDS.

ERICTION BRAKE.

APPLIoATIoN FILED JAN. 5. 19oa.

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NO MODEL.

I NVENTELH (udo ERumM W '1" E-SEBE pointed out in the followingspecification and,

UNITED STATES Patented June 16, 1903.

'PATENT OFFICE.

ALDO E. REYNOLDS, OF PEORIA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ANDREWONEILL, OF PEORIA, ILLINOIS.

FRICTION-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 731,128, dated''une 16,1903. Application tiled January 5,1903. Serial No. 137,789. (No model!)To (tu whom it may concern: l

Be it known that I, ALDO E. REYNOLDS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Peoria, in the county of Peoria and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Friction-Brakes; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, which will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improved friction-brake for use onstreet-railway cars, as well as for rolling-stock of every descriptionon steam-railway and other lines.

The object ot' my present invention is to provide a friction device tobe clamped onto the axle of the car and operated by means of a lever inlieu of the usual crank used on street-railway lines and to supplant thehandwheel usually employed on the railway-cars. The invention relatesalso to certain novel combinations of parts, as will be particularly inthe accompanying claims.

In the drawings attached hereto and forming part of this application,Figure lis a top view of the gearing of a street-car having the body ofthe car removed therefrom, but showing one of the platforms. Fig. 2 is aside elevationv of the gearing and the car-body with the near wheelsremoved to better illustrate the position of the parts. Fig. 3 is aninterior view of a friction-drum and the frictionblocks used therein.Fig. 4t is an edge view of the said drum with the friction-blocksremoved. Fig. 5 is a perspective View of oneing the clutch. A indicatesthe car, and B the wheels thereof, mounted on the axles C, which in turnhave their bearings in the gear-frame D. Upon one of the axles is keyedor otherwise secured a friction-drum E, made in two halves forconvenience in attachingit. v'It is evident that since the wheels arepermanently secured to the axle some means of attaching the frictiondevice must be provided, and therefore the drum is made infparts, asshown and described, the lugs e and the bolts fserving as the clampingdevices. Within the said drum is a plate made of the halves F F, clampedtogether by means of the lugs or ears G, Figs. 3 and 5. Each half isprovided with hollow eXtension H, terminating in a half-pulley section,as shown in Figs. 5 and 7. Lugs .I on the said pulley-section, togetherwith the lugs G mentioned, serve to clamp the two halves together toform a full plate and a complete chain-drum in Fig. l. The said plate Eand chain-drum I are loose on the axle, the latter being adapted to turnwithin the former. Made also in two halves and clamped together aroundthe portion H described 'is a shifting ring K, carrying adjustabletoggle-arms. These arms are made in two sections threaded at their freeends and separated and drawn together by means of internally-threadednuts M. This, however, is too wellknown to require lengthy descriptionhere, and I will therefore proceed with my explanation of the otherconstruction employed in my device. Friction-blocks N are provided forinternal contact with the friction-drnm'E, and these are made insemicircular form, as shown in Figs. 3 and 6, and are secured tocastings O, one end of each being pivoted to the plate F by means of theears P on the latter. A pair of lugs Q near the other end of thecastings, on the insidehthereof, serve as the connection for the ends ofthe toggle-arms L, the opposite ends of said arms being carried betweenthe lugs R on the said shifting ring K, as shown. It is understood thatin order to shift the friction-blocks N to grip the drum E the shiftingring K must be moved longitudinally on the portion H, and the means foraccomplishing this will be described presently; but in passing it isdesired to state that the said ring is prevented turning on the tubeportion Hby means of a groove or keyway K2 and a key K', seated in H, asindicated in Fig. 7. By seating the key and permitting the ring K toslide along it the desired action is had IOO without movement of theparts about one another. In order that the plate F and the chain-drumcannot shift on the shaft in an endwise manner, a ring or collar S isplaced on the axle, as in Fig. 7,thus keeping said plate and drum inproper position with reference to the drum E.

I desire at this time to state as one advantage of my brake that it canbe applied to any car now used without altering it in the least. 'lhemechanism already described being constructed in sections can be quicklyand easily applied and connected to the brake-rods now used, as willappear presently. 'lhe mechanism I employ to operate the friction deviceconsists in providing a horizontal shaft 2, journaled beneath the floorof the carin bearings 3, Fig. 2, each end carryingagear-wheel 4, asshown. The usual vertical shaft 5, to which the brake-crank isordinarily attached, is provided at its lower end with a gear 6 to meshwith 4, and the upper end of such shaft is provided with a lever-arm 7,carrying a spring-latch 8 to engage the teeth of a rack 9, attached tothe dashboard adjacent to the said lever. The shaft y2 extends theentire length of the car and is operated at the opposite end also by agear 10 on the vertical shaft 11, at that end said gear 10 being abovethe shaft 2 instead of below, as in the former case, in order thatmovement imparted to the vertical shaft will turn the shaft 2 in thesame direction as by th'e shaft 5.

Just above the axle on which the frictiongear is mounted an eccentric 12is secured on said shaft 2. Above the shifting ringK is pivoted a leverhaving the form of an inverted L, the lower limb of which is bifurcatedto straddle the said ring K. The horizontal limb of such lever is formedinto a link 14, which straddles the eccentric 12. The said lever ispivoted to the bottom of car,and in consequence thereof moves up anddown therewith, as does the shaft 2 and eccentric 12, respectively,sothat the positions of the shaft and lever bearings are relatively thesame at all times. The bifurcated end allows the lever to move up anddown Without affectingor interfering with the friction device,

as will be clearly understood. In order to strengthen the saidbifurcated end of the lever, a pair ot' rings 15 are employed to securethe ends rigid by means of an intermediate portion 16. 'lhis in realityforms a loop, which is strong, much like the link 14. The latter mayalso be constructed in the same way, or the eccentric may be made in twoportions, which may be clamped together with the link inclosed therein.

The brake-shoes for the wheels B and the bars which carry them, as wellas the balance of the mechanism connected therewith shown in thedrawings, are substantially the same as in common use and may beunderstood from the following: The brake-shoes 17 are carried on bars18, which, though not shown, are loosely hung from some part of thecar-frame by means of chains 19. At about the middle of the length ofthe car is a horizontal bar 20, lying transverselyof' the car andcarried to slide on guides 21, also secured to the car-frame, but not soshown. At. one side of the middle length of this bar 2O is attached abrake-rod 22, Whose other end is attached to the bar 18, carrying thebrakeshoes. A second brake-rod 23 in like manner connects the oppositebar 18 to the bar 2O at the other side of 'its middle length, all ofwhich is shown clearly in Fig. 1. Now the drum I,describedhereinbefore,carries a chain 24, which is attached to it by one of itsends, and the other end of such chain is secured to the bar 20 in theposition shown with regard to the brake-bars 22 and 23.

The operation of the entire arrangement is as follows: The motormandesiring to stop the car draws the lever 7 toward him, allowing thespring-catch 8 to drop into the teeth of the rack 9 as the lever ispulled around. The action of the-shaft transmits motion to the shaft 2beneath the car in the proper direction to turn the eccentric 12 aportion ofa revolution to depress the end of the lever 13 connectedtherewith. This naturallycarries the vertical portion of said levertoward the wheel B as viewed in the several figures, thereby shifting`the ring K along vthe hub and by means of the toggles pushing theblocks N against the interior surface of the drum E. Since the said drumE revolves with the axle C, and the blocks N and the plate F, whichcarry them, are loose thereon, it follows that when the blocksfrictionally engage the drum the entire device must revolve as anintegral part, turning the chaindrum I so as to tighten the chain 24. Inthis tightening of the chain the end of the bar 20 with which it isconnected is moved toward .the drum, and the first action is to drawupon the brake-bar 23, which in turn brings the brake-shoes against theforward wheels of Vthe car. Then the point of connection of said bar 23with the bar 20 becoming stationary, by reason of the brake-shoesreaching their limit of movementv by contacting with the wheels, at onceforms a fulcrum for the bar 20 and converts the latter into a lever.VThe next action then is 'to swing the bar upon its fulcrum thus createdand move the end to ,which the rod 22 is connected in the oppositedirection, thus drawing the rear brake-shoes IIO against theirrespective wheels, thus setting In the practical use of my brake theoperator in changing from end to end of his car merely removes the lever7 from the shaft it is used on and places it upon that at the oppositeend in the same'manner as the usual controller-lever for electric carsis transferred.

As before stated, the arrangement may be used on all classes of cars,whether steamdriven or otherwise, and it may be adapted for double-truckcars as well as single and, in fact, is applicable to all manner ofrollingstock.

I am aware of several brakes which employ a friction-drum for thecar-axle; but a great deal of mechanism becomes necessary in order tohave an operative device. 'My construction is quite simple as comparedwith the devices referred to, and by its peculiar arrangement few partsare needed, and the power on the brake-shoes is practically unlimited.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a friction-brake ofthe character described, a friction-drum secured to the caraxle andhaving an internal friction-surface parallel with the axle, a chain-drumon the axle but free thereof and having a hub portion extending towardthe drum, a plate on said hub having position within the drum, frictiondevices pivoted to the plates, a shiftable clutch-ring on the said hub,toggle-arms pivoted at one end to the friction devices and at the otherto the shiftable clutch-ring,means in the hands of the operator forshifting the clutch-ring to carry the friction devices into frictionalengagement with the drum, a chain attached to the chain-drum and brakemechanism to which the chain is also attached, all being arrangedsubstantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In a friction-brake of the character described, a friction-drumsecured on the caraxle and having an internal friction-surface parallelwith the axle, a chain-winding drum on the axle adjacent to thefriction-drum, a shifting ring on the hub 0f said winding-drum to turnwith the latter, friction devices Within the friction-drum, the sameadapted to turn with the said winding-dru m, means connected to theshifting ring and the friction devices for the purposes set forth andmeans for shifting the ring to spread the friction devices to carry thesame into engagement with the friction-drum to cause the chain-windingdrum to revolve with the axle to take up the chain and set the brakes.

3. In a friction-brake of the character described a friction-drumsecured on the caraxle, a chain-drum on said axle and normally freethereof, friction devices for driving the chain-drum through the mediumof the friction-drum, shifting means for engaging the friction deviceswith the friction-drum, a lever pivoted on the bottom of the car beneaththe same and having engagement at one end with the shifting means, itsother end having a link, a rock-shaft beneath the car extending the fulllength thereof, an eccentric on said rock-shaft within the link, a gear-Wheel on each end of the shaft, a vertical rock-shaft at each end of thecar, and 'a gear- Wheel on each said vert-ical shaft for engaging thegears of the shaft beneath the car all arranged substantially as setforth and described.

4. In a friction-brake mechanism of the character described,thecombination of the car-axle, a friction-drum fixed thereon, achain-Winding drum loosely mounted on the axle, friction devices Withinthe drum and adapted to engage the same said devices moving only withthe said chain-Winding drum, a shifting ring, members pivoted at one endto the friction devices and at the other to the shifting ring and meansformoving said ring for engaging the friction devices with thefriction-drum to wind the brake-chainnpon the chain-winding drum.

5. In a friction-brake mechanism of the character described, thecombination of the car-axle, a friction-drum fixed thereon, achain-winding drum loosely mounted on the axle, friction devices withinthe drum and adapted to engage the same, said devices moving only withthe said chain-winding drum, a shifting ring, members pivoted at one endto the friction devices and at the other to the shifting ring and meansfor moving the ring to engage the friction devices with the drum whichconsists of a lever pivoted at its middle to the bottom of f the car,

'one end engaging said shifting ring, a rockshaft journaled beneath thecar and extending the entire length thereof, an eccentric secured tosaid shaft and engaging the free end of the lever, a gear-wheel at eachend of the shaft, a vertical rock-shaft at each end of the car, agear-wheel on each for engaging the gears of the shaft beneath the carand adapted by a movement of either of the vertical shafts to impartmovement to the lower shaft to shift the clutch mechanism, for thepurposes set forth.

6. In a friction-brake mechanism the friction-drum E fixed to thecar-axle, the chaindrum I loosely mounted on the axle and having theplate F formed therewith and within the said friction-drum, frictiondevices N pivoted to the plate and adapted for engaging the interiorsurface of the drum, a shiftable ring K adjacent to the friction devicesN, adj ustable connections connecting the said ringv K and members N incombination with means for shifting the ring to spread the frictiondevices and force them into contact with the friction-surface of thedrum for the purposes explained.

7. In a friction-brake mechanism the friction-drum E fixed to thecar-axle, the chaindrum I loosely mounted on the axle and having theplate F formed therewith and within IOD TIO

the said friction-drum, friction devices N pivoted to the plate andadapted for engaging the interior surface of the drum, a shiftable ringK adjacent to the friction devices N, adjustable connections connectingthe said ring K and members N in combination with means for shifting thering to spread the friction devices and force them into contact with thefriction-surface of the drum consisting of the bent lever 13 pivoted tothe car and having one end in engagement With the ring K, the rock-shaft2 beneath the car and extending the full length thereof, the eccentric12 thereon for engaging the free end of said lever 13, the gear-Wheels 4on the ends of the shaft 2, the Vertical rock-shafts 5 and 11 at theends of the car, the gears 6 and 10 thereon for lengaging the gears 4:and levers for turning said Vertical shafts as set forth.

In testimony whereof I afx my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

ALDO E. REYNOLDS. Witnesses:

L. O. WALLACE, J. H. BLUSCH.

